Published: 22:19, 29 October 2025 | Updated: 22:19, 29 October 2025

If Pep Guardiola was hoping to ease the sense that his side is too reliant on Erling Haaland, then Manchester City's trip to Swansea would only be viewed as a success through squinted eyes.

For the better part of an hour, this performance was ugly, sluggish and unconvincing, all of which is entirely irrelevant in the light of progress to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals but perhaps a concern for those with vested interests in City.

For make no mistake, Guardiola invited embarrassment by making 10 changes to the team most recently used in the Premier League and might have suffered one, too, had the inertia of the first half here persisted into the second. 

It didn't and City avoided the fate of Nottingham Forest in the previous round through late goals from Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki.

But it was a scare and at this point, we should discuss Swansea City. Placed 13th in the Championship and fending off local grumbles about lost identities from when we knew them as a top-flight...